In Bereishit 49:27, the tribe of Binyamin is compared to a wolf, a fearsome carnivore who fights as ferociously as Binyamin’s warriors, similar to the expert, though usually mercenary, soldiers and the fabulous wealth of House Lannister:
Who was his mother? Rachel
Who were his siblings? Yosef
His Name
Who named him? Originally Rachel, but eventually Yaakov
Why was he named this/ what does it mean?
His original name, given to him by Rachel as she was dying from complications of childbirth, was Ben Oni, or son of my sorrow/ pain. However, after her death, Yaakov was so distressed that he slightly altered it to Binyamin, or more literally Ben Yamini, or son of my right hand/ right side. This is notable because historically and biblically speaking, being associated with the right side was usually interpreted as strength and virtue. It could also mean son of the south because he was the only one of the Twelve Tribes to have been born in the land of Canaan, which is to the south of Aram and Lavan’s home, where the rest were born. One more oddity is the way the name בנימין is written in the Samaritan Torah: it is written with the “nun sofit” as a “mem sofit”, making it look like בנימים, which means son of days, which is most likely a reference to Yaakov’s fairly old age at the time he was born.
His Life
Cite 2 sources from the Torah that tell us about him. What do the stories tell us about his personality?
As a general theme in the Book of Bereishit, Binyamin is portrayed as the “little brother” who still needs “protection”, like when the brothers go down to Egypt the second time and Yehuda pledges to Yaakov that no harm will come upon the “lad”. However, at that time, since Yosef was around the age of 40, Binyamin couldn’t too much younger, and he already had a wife and ten children, so obviously he was quite capable of taking care of himself, and later on in history, in the times of the Judges, many of Israel’s best troops, including the first king, Saul, came from the tribe of Binyamin.
Also answers the Midrash question:
As we see from Yosef’s treatment of Binyamin at his palace in Egypt, Binyamin and Yosef must have had a very deep, good relationship back when Yosef still lived in Canaan. In Bereishit 45:15, it says “Then he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck...” According to a Midrash, the reason they cried wasn’t only that they hadn’t seen each other in almost a quarter-century, but that they saw glimpses of the other’s tribal future in Canaan: Yosef cries because he sees the destruction of the 2 בתי המקדש, and Binyamin cries because he sees the evil that will come from his two sons’ tribes, Ephraim and Menashe.
Thoughts and Suggestions
What did you think of the wiki? It would’ve been great if it actually worked.
Would I have preferred an actual worksheet? YES
On a scale of 1-5, was the class productive? For me, I’d say a 4.5 or a 5- I basically finished all the research during class and only needed to type it up once I got home.
בנימין
by Effie Joseph
Family Information
Who was his mother? Rachel
Who were his siblings? Yosef
His Name
Who named him? Originally Rachel, but eventually Yaakov
Why was he named this/ what does it mean?
His original name, given to him by Rachel as she was dying from complications of childbirth, was Ben Oni, or son of my sorrow/ pain. However, after her death, Yaakov was so distressed that he slightly altered it to Binyamin, or more literally Ben Yamini, or son of my right hand/ right side. This is notable because historically and biblically speaking, being associated with the right side was usually interpreted as strength and virtue. It could also mean son of the south because he was the only one of the Twelve Tribes to have been born in the land of Canaan, which is to the south of Aram and Lavan’s home, where the rest were born. One more oddity is the way the name בנימין is written in the Samaritan Torah: it is written with the “nun sofit” as a “mem sofit”, making it look like בנימים, which means son of days, which is most likely a reference to Yaakov’s fairly old age at the time he was born.
His Life
Cite 2 sources from the Torah that tell us about him. What do the stories tell us about his personality?
As a general theme in the Book of Bereishit, Binyamin is portrayed as the “little brother” who still needs “protection”, like when the brothers go down to Egypt the second time and Yehuda pledges to Yaakov that no harm will come upon the “lad”. However, at that time, since Yosef was around the age of 40, Binyamin couldn’t too much younger, and he already had a wife and ten children, so obviously he was quite capable of taking care of himself, and later on in history, in the times of the Judges, many of Israel’s best troops, including the first king, Saul, came from the tribe of Binyamin.
Also answers the Midrash question:
As we see from Yosef’s treatment of Binyamin at his palace in Egypt, Binyamin and Yosef must have had a very deep, good relationship back when Yosef still lived in Canaan. In Bereishit 45:15, it says “Then he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck...” According to a Midrash, the reason they cried wasn’t only that they hadn’t seen each other in almost a quarter-century, but that they saw glimpses of the other’s tribal future in Canaan: Yosef cries because he sees the destruction of the 2 בתי המקדש, and Binyamin cries because he sees the evil that will come from his two sons’ tribes, Ephraim and Menashe.
Thoughts and Suggestions
What did you think of the wiki? It would’ve been great if it actually worked.
Would I have preferred an actual worksheet? YES
On a scale of 1-5, was the class productive? For me, I’d say a 4.5 or a 5- I basically finished all the research during class and only needed to type it up once I got home.